10 Successful People Who Proved That Age is Nothing But A Number

Our society often thinks that the best age to be successful is between 24 and 40 and that, once you reach 50, your life is pretty much over. However, there are always shining examples that prove that success is possible at any age. All you need is the right attitude.

Here are some examples that will prove to you that, no matter what age you are, you can do it, too!

10 Young & Old Successful Achievers

1 – Justin Bieber

It doesn’t matter if you like him or not, what he did prove was that you can get somewhere if you believe in yourself and your talent. All you need to do is have the guts to put yourself out there, to broadcast yourself – even if it is on YouTube.

Justin Bieber was discovered at the age of 14 and is believed to have made $110 million in those five years ever since his manager Scooter Braun stumbled across his YouTube videos.

2 – Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004 at the age of 19, literally changing the way people communicate. Facebook and Zuckerberg’s name are always at the center of much controversy, yet it cannot be denied that Mark Zuckerberg had a radically new idea and did not shy away from investing time and effort in it, at a time when he couldn’t have possibly known if it would work.

By 2007, Facebook had made Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire and nowadays he is believed to own about $80 billion today.

3 – Kathryn Joosten

Kathryn Joosten started out as a nurse and then was a stay-at-home mum. When her marriage failed, she thought she would chase her own dreams for once and become an actress – even though many would have considered her too old to start an acting career. It took her several years and she was almost 60, when she finally had the success she deserved for her never-tiring persistence.

Kathryn appeared in countless TV shows, such as Family Matters, My Name is Earl, Scrubs, and of course Desperate Housewives, winning two Emmy Awards for her performance as Karen McCluskey.

4 – Colonel Sanders

Colonel Sanders was well over 60 when he made it big with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Before that, he simply sold chicken and other food at a service station in Corbin, Kentucky.

When the Interstate 75 was built, diverting traffic away from his restaurant, his business was close to failing. Yet Sanders believed that he could do it. Instead of despairing or muddling through somehow, he adapted. He walked the long miles, pitching his unique recipe and was even knocked back 1009 times before someone decided to give him a chance to birth what is now known today as the highly successful food chain KFC.

5 – David Karp

Similar to Mark Zuckerberg, David Karp relied on the internet as a source of income, where he launched Tumblr at the age of 21. Like Zuckerberg, he had a revolutionary idea. He had been looking into tumble logs – very short blogs – before and thought a platform to promote these systematically could be successful. It turned out, he was right. To this date, Tumblr hosts over 100 million blogs making David Karp’s net worth more than $200 Million.

6 – Missy Franklin

Missy Franklin is only 18, yet she is a renowned swimmer who won four gold medals in the last Olympic Games. Furthermore, she holds several records, such as the world record in the 200 meter backstroke.

Missy Franklin started trying out for the US Olympic Teams at the age of 13. With her persistence and hard work, she managed to qualify for the Olympics in 2012, when she was only 17.

7 – Abigail Breslin

Abigail Breslin truly started early. Her first commercial for Toys’R’Us she did when she was only three years old, and by the time she was five, she had her first major role in the movie ‘Signs’. Only four years later, at the age of nine, she had her big breakthrough with her role of Olive Hoover in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. She has a reputation of being able to pull off both humorous and serious roles, as her performances in ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ or ‘Definitely Maybe’ showed. She was the youngest actress ever to be nominated for an Academy Award (for ‘Little Miss Sunshine’) and won countless other awards.

Rumour has it that Abigail Breslin charges around $2 million for a feature role in a movie.

8 – Frank McCourt

Everyone knows ‘Angela’s Ashes’, the story of Frank McCourt’s dire childhood, for which he received both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Books Critics Circle Award. A movie was made from his book, which became rather successful and thus also gave the novel another boost. What most people don’t know, however, is that Frank McCourt didn’t take up writing until he was 65. Before that, he was a teacher and led a rather ordinary life. Now, he has museums named after him.

Frank McCourt shows that no matter how dire your circumstances, you can turn them into something good.

9 – Ronald Reagan

Granted, Ronald Reagan was successful as an actor, yet he only became the 40th American President at the age of 70.

Ronald Reagan made drastic changes in economy to help increase economic growth. This even resulted in the coining of the term ‘Reaganomics’.

10 – Peter Roget

Peter Roget showed us that it is never too late to make earth-shattering inventions, such as the Thesaurus, which he invented at age 73. He actually used what most people would see as character flaws or issues to his success. Suffering from OCD, the only thing that would calm him down was making random lists. In the end, he simply started on the infinite project of creating a list of synonymous words.

Peter Roget’s ‘Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases’ has never been out of print since its initial appearance.

You see, you are never too young or too old to be successful or make a difference in this world. It all depends on your attitude – if you believe in yourself, are willing to put in the work required to make your dreams a reality, then it is never too early or too late for success!

Joel Brown is the CEO and Founder of Addicted2Success.com. With a long time passion for Entrepreneurship, Self development & Success, Joel started his website with the intention of educating and inspiring likeminded people all over the world to always strive for success no matter what their circumstances.

Thank you for this wonderful post. I am 31 and starting a Montessori school this August . I didn’t have the money but I made a kick ass business plan that gave me 1.6million Naira ($10,000) and added a little of my own savings. Now ,I am good to go. I made a very long list of everything I will need down to business cards and I ticked it off one by one. Still a long way to go but I am glad that I have enough to start. I agree that if you are truly on fire for your dreams, the earth will find a way to push you forward.
Adetutu.

Justin Bieber, may be young and successful but he’s also a dip$hit. Anyone read that news story about him smashing in his Ferrari past Keyshawn Johnson? Lil’ $hit thinks he’s invincible. This is how Ryan Dunn died. Only difference? I wouldn’t care if that happened to Bieber

Oh Wendy that is inspiring to me. I’m 29 and im going thru a midlife crisis already. I see my peers buying homes and getting married etc and im just now going to law school which in my country is something you do at 21-22 usually so that u r admitted to the bar by 25. So thanks Wendz <3

I have to agree that it is more inspirational when you read about older people achieving success than the younger ones. The whole world seems geared to younger people, so in effect the older people have had to work harder and put up with much more just to achieve the same level of success as someone younger.
This is another of those little “Print out and keep” type lists!

Absolutely agree with you Paul. Susan Boyle is a great example. She didn’t have stardom written on her at all, but she worked with what she had and when she opened her mouth, Simon Cowell realized what he could have passed up. Sometimes people don’t have the MONEY to look their best or buy the clothes needed so they come as they are believing their talent will speak for them.
Would people pass up listening to Aretha Franklin today just because she’s heavy set and can’t do cartwheels on stage?? Susan Boyle should make the music industry wake up.

Another great article, I feel more inspired by older people finding success than younger ones. Although it is EXTREMELY impress what Zuckerberg and Beiber have been able to accomplish, I love when older adults go after their passions. Better late than never- I love reading about people who refuse to settle for their whole lives!

Start without capital. There are many things we can do to show that we are serious about something without money. Like making a business plan and then presenting that to someone who does have money. There are no roadblocks but only the ones we make for ourselves.
Get out there and do it.

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